Six Weeks Until My Competition, My Passion is Back!

   As of this Saturday it's six weeks until my powerlifting competition!  I have to admit that I'm a little nervous and I've been asking myself why am I doing this?  The answer is to challenge myself to be better and to inspire others to challenge themselves.

It's the challenges in life that get us out of the ruts of routine living.  After 3 weeks of training on a new program at a higher intensity, I realize that I have been in a rut with my exercise routine.  I have been working out on a regular basis but, I had lost the passion of pushing my mind and my body to another level.  Isn't that just like life?  You don't realize you've lost your passion for living until something forces you out of your daily routine.

I'm pretty pleased with my progress up to this point.  My maximum lifts so far are: a 305 lb bench press, a 425 lb deadlift, and a 455 lb squat.  Quite a ways away from the what it takes to win my class, but I'm excited about pushing myself to new levels, and I'm so happy I decided to do this powerlifting meet.  The true lesson in this is not about whether or not I win my class, it's about competing with myself to do my very best.  Now I realize that I am the toughest competitor that I will ever compete against in anything that I do.

5 Easy Rotator Cuff Exercises

I recently wrote a post about 3 exercises to help keep your shoulders healthy.  But, for those of you who already have shoulder pain here's the link to a great article on how to rehab your shoulders.  5 simple exercises you can do at home to help alleviate your pain in just a few weeks.

5 Easy Rotator Cuff Exercises

Strong Legs Are the Foundation of a Strong Body

I often hear something like this on an initial consultation with a new client when I ask them about their exercise habits, "I do upper body exercise 2 to 3 times per week." Then I ask what about your legs? And their reply is always the same, "I run or walk several times per week and that keeps my legs pretty strong."

The common belief is that running or walking keeps your legs strong.  While running and walking are great activities for your cardiovascular health, they are not the best form of exercise to build strength in your legs; strength training is.  Building strong legs is the foundation to building a strong body just as building a solid foundation on a building is key having a strong structure.

Strength training develops your legs by forcing them to adapt to a resistance greater than your body weight.  Consequently, your body responds by recruiting more muscle fibers to move the additional load resulting in an increase is muscle strength not only in your legs but all over your body.  In addition strength training your legs causes your body to produce more testosterone and growth hormone.

Now that you see how important that having strong legs is, below is one of my favorite exercises for developing your legs.

The Leg Press

The leg press is one of the best exercises for overall strength and development of your legs.  First, sit in the seat, positioning your feet about shoulder width apart and chest high on the platform.   Adjust the seat height by pulling the handle and sliding forward until your thighs are parallel to the platform.  This is your start position (make sure that your lower back is pressed firmly against the back of the seat).  With your feet flat, slowly press upward until your legs are fully extended but short of locking.  Slowly return to the position where the weight almost touch the weight stack.  The breathing pattern for this exercise is to exhale as you press up and inhale as you return to the start.  Again, you will have to experiment to find a weight with which the last three repetitions are difficult to perform.

You can find my complete strength training routines at Forever Fit and Firm

Maximize Fat Burning in Your Exercise Program

With warm weather approaching, most people want to look good in their more revealing summer wardrobes. This time of the year I hear a lot of complaints like this, "I put a pair of my shorts last week and I don't like the way I look in them."  Then I get the question of how to get rid of the extra layer of fat that was put on during the winter? My answer is always diet and exercise.  While diet is the major part of the answer, in this post I want to talk about exercise, specifically, cardio.  In order to most efficiently burn body fat you have to do a combination of strength training and cardio.

A brief explanation of how your body responds to exercise will help you understand how to do your cardio in a manner that is most efficient in helping you burn body fat and firm-up.  Your body has two basic ways of generating energy for your muscles in response to exercise. One involves your body using oxygen to burn calories to provide fuel to exercising muscles. In this method, your body is most efficient in burning stored body fat because fat must have oxygen present to be converted into energy to fuel your muscles. Activities that cause your body to use this method to generate energy are called aerobic. Examples are brisk walking and slow running. When you are doing activities such as these, you are exercising in the aerobic zone.

The other method that your body uses to provides fuel to muscles does not require the use of oxygen. In this method your body primarily uses carbohydrates that are stored in the muscle to generate energy. Anaerobic activities that require a quick burst of energy such as heavy weight lifting and sprinting require your body to use this method. Activities that cause your body to use this energy production system are called anaerobic exercises.

Knowing which energy system you are using when you exercise is important if you want to maximize fat burning. In my fitness program, I do strength training in the anaerobic zone to build and maintain muscle, while performing cardio in the aerobic zone to burn fat.

When planning your cardio exercise program, design it around the following three concepts:

Frequency – I recommend you do at least three sessions of cardio each week but no more than six. This is ample exercise to achieve the health benefit, and burn body fat, while also giving your body maximum recovery time to build and maintain your hard earned muscle mass. I personally do four to five cardio sessions per week as a part of my fitness program.

Intensity – I suggest you do your cardio exercise in the range of 60 to 80 percent of your estimated maximum heart rate. This is called your aerobic zone and is where your body is most efficient at burning fat as fuel. Anything above 80 percent of your estimated maximum heart rate will tap into your anaerobic energy production system, meaning you will stop using stored body fat to feed your muscles.

Use the following method to calculate your estimated maximum heart rate and your aerobic exercise zone. Take the number 220 and subtract your age. This is your estimated maximum heart rate. Now take 60 percent of this number to get the lower end of the range of your aerobic zone and 80 percent of this number to get the upper end.

For example, I am 55 years old, so my estimated maximum heart rate is 220 – 55 = 165 beats per minute (bpm). Therefore, the lower end of the range of my aerobic zone is 165 bpm x 60% = 99 bpm, and the upper end of my aerobic zone is 169 bpm x 80% = 132 bpm. So when I do my cardio exercise, I work out at a heart rate between 99 to 132 bpm.

The easiest way to see if you are staying in your aerobic zone is with a heart rate monitor. If you do not have access to a heart rate monitor, you can use the following method to check your heart rate and stay in your aerobic zone. Take the lower and upper range numbers you calculated above and divide them by four. This is your 15 second heart rate count. Then during your workout periodically stop and check your pulse for 15 seconds to see if your heart rate falls between the two numbers you just calculated.  I’ll use my example again. The lower and upper ends of the range of my aerobic zone are 99 and 132 bpm, respectively. Therefore, my 15 second heart rate count is 99 bpm / 4 = 25 for the lower end of the range and 132 / 4 = 33 for the upper end. Thus, when I’m doing cardio, I stop to check my pulse for 15 seconds making sure the number I get is between 25 and 33, so I’m in my aerobic exercise zone. This is the intensity range that my body is most efficient at burning fat for fuel to provide my muscles the energy to exercise.

Duration – It is my observation that you get the most benefit from your cardio program if you combine it with strength training and do between 30 and 45 minutes three to six days each week. Do the 30 minute sessions after strength training and the 45 minute sessions on the days that you do not weight lift.

Design your cardio exercise program around the three principles above and you’ll notice a real difference in the way you look and feel.

A Beginners Guide to Strength Training Over 50

My newest ebook, A Beginners Guide to Strength Training Over 50.  Strength training is one of the most important things you can do if you want to remain healthy and fit over the age of 50.  In this guide I show you a beginners strength training routine I do with my clients over 50.

Dumbbell Chest Press

Watch as I demonstrate one of my favorite exercises for strengthening and developing my chest.

Strength Training For Beginners

It's the first of the year and you've decided that this is the year that you really get into the best physical condition of your life. If this is your aspiration, then let me give you some professional advice.  "Make strength training the foundation of your fitness program."  This is especially important is you are over 40 years old.

I'm a personal trainer with over 18 years of experience in the health and fitness industry.  Over the years I've seen fads come and go in the fitness arena, but strength training still remains the most effective long-term approach to losing weight, and improving your health and fitness.

I'm in my 50s and I've been strength training for over 25 years and I'm stronger and more fit than I was in my 20s.  If you have never done any strength training, now is the time to start and you can be stronger and more fit when New Year's rolls around next year.  So, if you are ready to really get into the best shape of your life, checkout my strength training guides at by clicking here: Strength training publications.

Pilates Is For Bodybuilders Too

As an all natural bodybuilder , I do a lot of strength training to build and maintain my muscle mass for competition. Over many years of training I begin to experience joint pain. I mentioned this to a friend who is also a pilates instructor and she recommended that I start doing pilates on a regular basis

Pilates is an exercise technique that focuses on core strengthening, balance, and flexibility. These principles are some of the same principles used in the rehabilitation of many common orthopedic problems. Therefore, Pilates is more commonly being used in the prevention and rehabilitation of many orthopedic problems.

So, I started doing pilates once per week and I was amazed at how it helped ease my joint pain and also aided in muscle recovery after a week of heavy lifting. Pilates equipment can be as simple as a mat on the floor or a machine called a pilates reformer.

The pilates reformer looks like a single bed frame with a sliding carriage and adjustable springs to regulate tension and resistance. Cables, bars, straps and pulleys allow exercises to be done from a variety of positions, even standing. The resistance created by the pulley and spring system provided a more challenging strength and endurance workout for me that working out on a mat on the floor.

So, if you are a bodybuilder, power lifter, or someone who primary lifts weights to stay fit I suggest you incorporate a weekly pilates session into your workout regime. I can assure you that after a few sessions you will be amazed at how well you recover from your strenuous strength training workouts.

20 Minute Workout Express

Think you can't get a workout in this week because you are pushed for time?  Checkout my 20 minute workout routines on Health Fitness Nation.

In the Beginning, Hire A Personal Trainer

Image via WikipediaI recently read an article that offered inexpensive alternatives to hiring a personal trainer.  The article mentioned places where you can get "how to" fitness information online.  While, you can find a lot good fitness information and excellent exercise routines on the web, you will also find some information that's not worth following.  Therefore, you need to have enough knowledge about health and fitness to distinguish the good information from the bad.  So, if you are new to exercise and thinking of beginning a fitness program, I suggest you hire a good nationally certified personal trainer.  A personal trainer can assess your physical characteristics and lifestyle and custom design a program just for you.

I also think you should at least have a trainer custom design a program for you even if are going to workout on your own.  They can teach you the proper form and technique to use for each exercise, so when you are working out you can be confident you are doing the routine properly.  I can't count the number of times I've seen people following some exercise routine they've downloaded and doing most of the exercises incorrectly and  consequently injure themselves.

In addition, a personal trainer can also educate you about health and fitness, so when you do search for new exercise routines on the web you can distinguish the good ones from the not so good.  This alone is a good reason to invest in hiring a personal trainer.